When Start Doesn’t Start in NaturallySpeaking

When you give the "Start" command to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you say Start America Online or Start Microsoft Works or Start Quicken and the program should open. But what if it doesn't? What’s the deal?

The Start command will start any application that is installed on your machine and has either

A shortcut icon on the desktop

An entry on the Programs menu

The catch, however, is that you have to say the name exactly as it appears on the shortcut or menu entry. So if the entry on the Programs menu is Microsoft Word 2010, then you need to say Start Microsoft Word twenty ten.

If the name on the icon or menu entry is too much of a mouthful to be worth pronouncing, or if you can never remember exactly what it says, rename it. Rename a desktop icon by right-clicking it and choosing Rename. You can do the same thing to the Programs menu entries, but you have to find them first. They live in the folder C:\Windows\Start Menu.

Another possibility is that you have too many programs on the Start list or on your desktop so it can’t open. NaturallySpeaking tracks up to 500 menu and desktop items. If you are beyond that number, you will have a problem opening a program. Cleaning up the list can solve that problem.